Have you ever been scared to eat a turkey burger? I know that I was for many years. I’m not exactly sure how I came to fear the turkey burger, but fear it I did. Supposedly dry but rubbery but crumbly, a tasteless pile of white meat on a bun. Yuck, I’ve almost scared myself off of turkey burgers again just writing that!
Luckily, I took a chance recently and made some turkey burgers that turned out to be crazy yummy. I adapted a recipe found on allrecipes.com called “Actually Delicious Turkey Burgers,” so it’s obvious that I wasn’t the only one doubting just how tasty a turkey burger could be! I love reading through peoples comments on this website because you get to hear feedback on what did/didn’t work for real people, and what kind of alterations they made.

Step #1: I used my trusty grill pan to cook these burgers and give them a more “authentic” burger feel, but any non-stick sauté pan would do as well. (I’m not yet confident enough with my recipe to try it on a real grill. The patties were still a little delicate but I think that’s because I accidentally over-defrosted the meat, and hadn’t added the full ¼ cup of breadcrumbs). Preheat your pan well while mixing and making the patties so that you get a nice sear on the outside of the burger.

Step #2: In a large bowl, mix all the ingredients together (minus any olive oil).

Step #3: Form somewhere between 4 and 6 patties, depending upon how big you want your burgers.

Step #4: Add a drizzle of oil to your pan to give your patties extra non-stick power. I also tried out a trick I read in the reviews section of the original recipe where someone suggested lightly flouring the patties, which I found to be helpful.

Step #5: Cook the patties over medium heat, flipping once, until cooked through. I’ve you’ve got a meat thermometer, look for an internal temp of about 180°F. If you’re like me and you don’t have one at the moment, then just chop a patty open when you think it’s done and make sure there’s no pink color left to the meat.

Step #6: Eat the burgers in any manner desired! I ate my first one with grilled onions (see *Optional step#7, below), American cheese, and mayonnaise on a wheat bun. The next day, I ate my leftover burger with more grilled onions, a melted slice of fresh mozzarella and no bun. Both times it was a scrumptious meal!

*Optional Step #7: If you like onions, adding some grilled local onions to this delicious burger only makes it that much better. I found a bunch of fresh onions at a local market, it didn’t specify what kind they were, but they looked white and yet tasted rather sweet. I threw some extra virgin olive oil in my grill pan, then tossed in the sliced up onions and doused them with salt to add flavor and help extract moisture. Cook the onions down, occasionally tossing them around, until they are caramelized and golden. These simple yet delicious onions not only make a great burger topping, but can be thrown on salads, sandwiches, or pastas!